Some people I know attended the show on Sunday and report that there was only about $500 in gross revenue there, but the performance, which was not live, went off perfectly and the theater employees stated that in the future there would be more than one day’s notice prior to the shows. There will be several more operas from Italy this season.

Loring Hall is presenting the “Nutcracker” ballet in high-def as performed by the Kirov Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. There will be 6 performances during the Christmas season at $10 kids, $15 adults.

As of a month or so ago, Loring Hall’s operator Patriot Cinemas has expressed interest in running a proposed new multiplex to be constructed on the east side of Route 3A in Hingham. They say that they will continue running Loring Hall as an art-film house.

The new Hingham Shipyard Cinema opened during the last week of July. It has 6 screens and a total of about 1,000 seats, all stadium-style. Although it is close to Loring Hall, Patriot Cinemas say that the latter will remain open. I believe that the new cinema is all-new construction and did not go into an existing structure.

According to this Patriot Ledger article, Loring Hall was burgled earlier this week. Apparently, the 300-pound safe was stolen from the building, raided, and dumped in a sewer grate. The safe was recovered by Hingham police, with an underminate amount of cash and movie passes stolen.

The current cinema operation at Loring Hall dates back to the mid-1930s, but the place was used for movie exhibition prior to that time, because it’s listed in the 1927 Film Daily Yearbook. It lists Loring Hall in Hingham as having 420 seats and operating 2 days per week.

Loring Hall was on a long list of theaters and halls receiving licenses in MA for the year ending Oct. 31, 1914. It was being run by the Trustees of the Loring Hall Association, and it was in Good condition.

The Quincy Patriot-Ledger had a feature article on Sat. March 31, 2012 titled “Small Theaters' Fade-Out? – Digital technology puts neighborhood cinemas at risk of vanishing.” It quotes someone from Patriot Cinemas as saying that they will keep 35mm projection at Loring Hall for as long as they can. “We do very well there”, he says. The article has a color photo, apparently taken at a recent matinee showing of “Albert Nobbs”. The photo shows part of the auditorium looking front to back. I counted 57 people there, 6 of whom are sitting in the balcony.